California Municipal Baseball Standings - UPDATE

Are we finished trading? Since our last post, the trading deadline has come and gone (but players can still come and go)

Here are the updated CMBS for the games that ended on August 8th.

City	Team	League	Winning %	Last Week
Bakersfield	Blaze	A	0.643	1
San Diego	Padres	NL West	0.582	2
San Francisco	Giants	NL West	0.563	6
Rancho Cucamonga	Quakes	A	0.548	3
Fresno	Grizzlies	AAA	0.548	4
Adelanto	High Desert Mavericks	A	0.548	8
Sacramento	River Cats	AAA	0.539	5
Lake Elsinore	Storm	A	0.524	7
Stockton	Ports	A	0.524	9
Los Angeles	Dodgers	NL West	0.518	10
Oakland	A’s	AL West	0.509	13
Anaheim	Angeles	AL West	0.496	11
Lancaster	Jet Hawks	A	0.476	16
Modesto	Nuts	A	0.465	12
Visalia	Rawhide	A	0.442	14
San Jose	Giants	A	0.429	17
San Bernardino	Inland Empire 66’ers	A	0.405	15

Congratulations to the Bakersfield Blaze for holding on to the lead in the standings, however the top 5 have two MLB teams closing in. The bottom 5 spots (#'s 13 - 17) are pretty much the same with the exception of the Oakland A's and the Modesto Nuts trading places.

MLB Salary Update!

Not to be outdone by the recent press attention given to high paid City Managers, it has been reported that former major leaguer and former Sacramento River Cat Eric Byrne has retired from baseball. Quoting from Wikipedia:

"On May 13, 2010, Byrnes announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. He lives in Half Moon Bay, California, plays slow pitch softball and golf, and reports no regrets. He will earn $11 million in 2010."


Not bad for a guy who was hitting .107 with Seattle and was signed to a $400,000 contract. Speaking of salaries......


So, what can you get for the equivalent salaries the City of Bell was paying their $800,000 City Manager and their $457,000 Police Chief?  It should be noted that the average MLB salary is $3.2 million. 


$800,000 will buy you.... This house in Little Rock Arkansas

or this 1995 Ferrari F50

or San Diego Padres Catcher Yorvit Torrealba

 For $457,000 you can have this antique Patek Philippe Watch

Or this house in Maryland

Or hard hitting 3rd baseman Pedro Sandoval from the San Francisco Giants

Play Ball!

California Municipal Baseball Standings - UPDATE - At the Half

Well, as I was reminded by Tim Johnson, author of the California Business Minute - that I haven't posted the updated CSMBS in over a month.  Not that Baseball doesn't matter, but I was tuned into the World Cup (and unfortunately tuned into the Vuvuzelas)

Let's start the second half of the season with a look at where the teams are today....

City	Team	League	Winning %	Last Week
Bakersfield	Blaze	A	625	12
San Diego	Padres	NL West	.593	4
Rancho Cucamonga	Quakes	A	.583	7
Fresno	Grizzlies	AAA	.579	2
Sacramento	River Cats	AAA	.547	13
San Francisco	Giants	NL West	.543	9
Lake Elsinore	Storm	A	.542	1
Adelanto	High Desert Mavericks	A	.542	5
Stockton	Ports	A	.542	15
Los Angeles	Dodgers	NL West	.533	6
Anaheim	Angeles	AL West	.526	11
Modesto	Nuts	A	.500	8
Oakland	A’s	AL West	.500	10
Visalia	Rawhide	A	.458	14
San Bernardino	Inland Empire 66’ers	A	.417	16
Lancaster	Jet Hawks	A	.417	17
San Jose	Giants	A	.375	3

Holy smoke!  Bakersfield is on the top of the standings, and the once high-flying San Jose Giants are in the basement.

In looking for the best promotions for the week ahead, we found what could be the most creative promotion of the season, and once again, it's from the Fresno Grizzlies.....

Presenting........

MAN NIGHT

Man Night

Had enough of all the ladies nights in town? The Grizzlies have your answer. It's Man Night on July 29, where we'll cater to the Y-Chromosomed half of the population with everything you need to have a manly good time at the ballpark.

Have fun and Play Ball!

Where are the California Municipal Baseball Standings?

Truth be told, I am a HUGE soccer fan.  The California Municipal Baseball Standings will return after the World Cup is over - or at least as soon as I lose interest in who is playing.

Eric J. Middleton

Summer Travel

Greetings!  As summer begins, so does the hectic summer travel season.  For me, navigating my way through airports will take a little longer, getting through security will take more patience and re-circulated air will be used by more people. 

Every year, it takes a little more energy for me to get jazzed up about heading to an airport, any airport for that matter.  The aviation industry has never completely recovered from 9/11 and now our current economic recession has delayed its recovery even more. With that said, I am extremely excited that Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal is finally being renovated.  There are two phases to this project, the first is the terminal modernization a $737 million project with a focus on making the terminal more customer service friendly.  The second phase it the $1.5billion West Terminal expansion.  It is considered to be the largest public works project in the history of the City of Los Angeles and it will create 4,000 construction related jobs over the course of the four-year project schedule. Too bad I don’t get to use that terminal! 

Being a former long-time Angeleno, LAX was my “home” airport.  Actually, I don’t mind the other terminals at LAX.  What I do mind is the cleanliness of the terminals.  I can’t stand the dirty bathrooms, dingy floors and trash on the waiting area seats.  Now that I use San Francisco International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport as my “home” airports, it’s so hard for me to go back and deal with the LAX standards.

In any event, good luck with your summer travels.  In case you haven’t made any plans yet, here’s a useful website with the top airports by categories (cleanest terminals, cleanest restrooms, etc.):

http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2010/cleanliness.htm

Bon voyage!  

Sherrill Uyeda

California Municipal Baseball Standings - Update Week 5

Teams are starting to settle into a pattern as we head into this weekend's games.  No movement in the top 5 teams, however, once high-flying Visalia has dropped into the bottom 5. 

Here are the standings

City	Team	League	Winning %	Last Week
Lake Elsinore	Storm	A	.667	1
Fresno	Grizzlies	AAA	.630	2
San Jose	Giants	A	.611	3
San Diego	Padres	NL West	.604	4
Adelanto	High Desert Mavericks	A	.585	5
Los Angeles	Dodgers	NL West	.574	6
Rancho Cucamonga	Quakes	A	.556	8
Modesto	Nuts	A	.538	7
San Francisco	Giants	NL West	.538	9
Oakland	A’s	AL West	.527	10
Anaheim	Angeles	AL West	.500	12
Bakersfield	Blaze	A	.481	15
Sacramento	River Cats	AAA	.473	13
Visalia	Rawhide	A	.463	11
Stockton	Ports	A	.426	14
San Bernardino	Inland Empire 66’ers	A	.367	16
Lancaster	Jet Hawks	A	.302	17

If you are visiting the ball park this weekend here are the really cool give-a-ways.  The Oakland A's host the Minnesota Twins. Friday is Fireworks night, Saturday is 14th Annual Oakland A's Beer Festival and Sunday is Batting Helmet day to the first 7500 kids.  Only 7,500?!  Sunday is also Mathletics Day - the combination Math day and Batting Helmet day is a sure winner. 

If you are driving on Highway 99 be sure to drop in on the Visalia Rawhide game.  Saturday is Dairy Day, yes, Dairy Day!

"Dairy Day

One of the most popular promotions we offer during the season! Come out and enjoy the lovely sight of our players competing in a cow milking contest among other things. 

Cowbell Giveaway (subject to change

Presented by Land O' Lakes"

Did I see cowbell giveaway? I think I did - well this can only mean one thing We need more Cowbell

Play Ball!